Conrad Black says he'd only support Rob Ford if opponents were 'terribly unacceptable'

After an interview that left some viewers with the impression he would be supporting Rob Ford in the 2014 election, Conrad Black has now issued a qualifier: He’s only supporting Mayor Ford if the competition is “terribly unacceptable.”

“I gather it has been imputed to me that I am aligned with Ford and I am a supporter of his for re-election,” Lord Black said in an interview with CBC radio host Carol Off. “That is not the case and I never said any such thing and that would not in fact be my view unless his opponent was somebody that was just really terribly unacceptable.”

Black’s appearance on As It Happens came two days after the former media baron’s interview with Mayor Ford.

“A soft interview? Yeah. Well these ones are. They are not really interviews. They are conversations and people accept my invitation to talk with me,” Lord Black said to Ms. Off.

“I identify with anyone who’s been crucified by the media and has been subjected to a certain lynching, and I’ve been through that myself, and I identify that I don’t like it, it’s no fun, and it’s not a good thing to have.”

The mayor is facing a potential lawsuit from a reporter after he suggested the Toronto Star‘s Daniel Dale was a pedophile on Lord Black’s program, while he recounted a 2012 incident near Mayor Ford’s home.

“I have little kids. When a guy’s taking pictures of little kids,” Mayor Ford told Lord Black. “I don’t want to say that word but you start thinking, ‘What’s this guy all about?’”

Lord Black was criticized for not questioning Mayor Ford’s account of the incident, which both Mr. Dale and Toronto police have said was not factual.

When told of the police account of the matter by Ms. Off, Lord Black said he would “resent” being lied to by Mayor Ford.

“I mean, if your summary is correct, then the mayor lied. I still don’t see it as an allegation of pedophilia. There’s an overhasty leap out of the starting blocks to assume that, then certainly, if the account you just gave is accurate, then the mayor lied. And I would resent that if he did,” he said.

“If that’s what he did, he shouldn’t have done it. And indeed if what you just said is what happened, going back to my days in the study, in my brief days in the practice of law and certainly to my extensive experience in defamation matters, Mr. Dale would have a case against him.”

Lord Black also highlighted his own battles with slander and libel, saying he “always successfully” pursued such action.

“In the mayor’s case, I don’t think anyone knows the extent to what he’s done bad things and the extent to which he’s been falsely accused, but it’s a combination of the two, and unfortunately it has been damaging, but you can get over it you know, and people do recover from defamations, I know something about that myself,” he said.